"Come back, Marshawn, come back! We need you," Bennett told NFL AM on Monday. "Without Marshawn, we wouldn't win a Super Bowl. Obviously he's one of the best running backs in the game, and he feels like he should be paid like one of the best backs in the game. And, of course, I agree with him. I mean, for a guy to take those kind of hits in the NFL and continue to do it at a high level?"

Appearing with his brother on NFL Network, Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett argued that today's running backs have to scrap for every dollar.

"The way that running backs are treated in the league nowadays, until they get some leverage, they gotta try and get paid again, because they'll be out before you know it," Martellus said. "It's almost as if in the NFL, as soon as you have a good year, you gotta ask for a pay raise -- because as soon as you have a bad year, they ask for a pay cut."

Lynch has been one of the NFL's hardest-working backs over the past three seasons, but his leverage is almost nonexistent. With Christine Michael and Robert Turbin in the stable, Seattle isn't about to cave to Marshawn's desire for more guap.

These contract stories aren't unusual in June, but Lynch would need to take this into September to see results.